A presentation about serious games, knowledge games and roleplaying games at Ropecon 2014.

1. Harness you imagination:
games in knowledge co-creation

2. Otso Hannula
• Doctoral researcher at Enterprise
Simulation Laboratory SimLab, Aalto
University Department of Industrial
Engineering
• Gaming for 20 years across media:
computer, consoles, mobile, board
games, roleplaying games, larp,
miniatures
• Interests: game design, learning in
games, storytelling

3. Gaming simulations
Educational games
Gameful design
Serious games
Gamification
Learning games Game-based learning
Games that are used for something beyond
the play itself, often as an aid for learning by
keeping the attention of a learner over time, or
by simulating future scenarios (Abt, 1987)

4. Games that are used for something
beyond the play itself

5. The Planning Game
James Shore’s The Art of AgileTM (2007)

6. Canyon Adventure
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (2013)

7. The Ruby Realm
Education Development Center, Possible Worlds (2009)

8. From games about problem-solving
to games for problem-solving

9. The ATLAS game

10. The ATLAS game
• 3-5 players playing
collaboratively with 2
facilitators
• Build a “map” of answers by
placing and answering
questions on the board
• The players will plan a
service co-development
project and learn about co-development
methods

11. The ATLAS game

12. The ATLAS game

13. The ATLAS game

14. What did we learn?

15. Facilitator 1: “But do you want these too?” [raises and holds visible
Participant cards chosen earlier in the game] ”How about these
[municipality official stakeholders], do you want them to also co-create
[the service] with you? “
Player 3: ”Yes.”
Player 5: “Yeah.”
Facilitator 1: [Keeps holding the cards up] ”Or are they an
information source for you?”
Player 2: “Actually yes, do we really want our funders, over there,
[refers to the card] to give us restrictions on what we’re allowed to
do?”

16. Player 2: “Can we still affect the change [that the cookie factory is
leaving the municipality]?”
Player 3: “But isn’t it like, that we’re thinking proactively, that we’re
not just replacing the cookie factory with some new herring factory or
a smoker, but we’re going with the [new innovators], to do all other
kinds of new things.”
Player 4: “But the reason for all this change [in the municipality] was
the fact that they had all this difficulty and slowness [in the
municipality administration].”
Player 1: “…there has been this change happening…”
Player 5: “But the society and the situation there have changed
[because of the cookie factory leaving].

17. Objects of collaboration
Predesigned Emergent
Tangible Game board, cards,
methods, game rules
Participants, post-it notes
Intangible Case description Project plan, service concept,
expanded case description,
personal experiences

18. Example of play
Moment-to-moment?
Single encounter?
Campaign world?
Social landscape?

19. Activity systems
TOOLS
SUBJECT
OBJECT
OUTCOME
RULES COMMUNITY DIVISION OF LABOR
Engeström (1987)

20. Activity systems
(Tool)
CONSTITUTIVE RULES
(Subject)
PLAYER
(Object)
GAME OBJECT
(Outcome)
OUTCOME
(Rules)
REGULATIVE RULES
(Community)
PARTICIPANTS AS
COMMUNITY
(Division of labor)
ROLES

21. Activity systems
(Tool)
CONSTITUTIVE RULES
Movement, turn order, picking cards,
presenting new information
(Subject)
PLAYER
Single players,
collaborative decisions
(Object)
GAME OBJECT
Cards, map tokens,
answers, shared fiction
(Rules)
REGULATIVE RULES
Turn order, consensus
building
(Community)
PARTICIPANTS AS
(Outcome)
OUTCOME
Project plan
COMMUNITY Project roles
Players, facilitators
(Division of labor)
ROLES

22. Activity systems
CONSTITUTIVE RULES
PLAYER
GAME OBJECT
OUTCOME
REGULATIVE RULES PLAYERS AS
COMMUNITY
ROLES
is empowered by
impose
restrictions on
is mediated by
object of
activity
restrict
mediate the
manipulation of
define the relationship
towards
share
RELATIONSHIPS

23. Activity systems
CONSTITUTIVE RULES
PLAYER
OUTCOME
REGULATIVE RULES PLAYERS AS
COMMUNITY
ROLES
TENSIONS
“How am I
allowed to
use the tools I
am given?”
“What does my
role enable me
to do?”
“How do my
abilities reflect
on the hierarchy
in the game?”
“How does
the role
define me
and vice
versa?”
“How will I
reach my goals
with the tools I
have?”
GAME OBJECT

24. (A bad) example of play

25. (A bad) example of play

26. (A better) example of play

27. (A high-level) example of play
Me
(the player)
My ability to
contribute to the
story
Constraints that
produce
interesting
choices
The actions of
other people
around the table
Possibilities and
expectations
generated by the
characters
Our shared
object of
collaboration
The outcome I
desire
(for whatever
reason)

28. The Laundry World
+
Sali 21 16.00-20.00 AND 20.00-24.00

29. Thank you!
Contact:
@otsohannula
otso.hannula@gmail.com
Thesis available at: www.tinyurl.com/otso2014
ATLAS game available at http://atlas-research.fi/